Bring Me To Life

A NaruHina Fanfic

By JakeNova

Chapter 1

Wake Me Up

"Move! Get outta the way!" Her angry voice cleared the hallway much more efficiently than Shizune's small form and soft voice ever could have. Tsunade stormed down the hallway of the all too familiar Konoha Hospital, approaching her destination. She kept telling herself it couldn't be true, that somehow this was just some kind of crazy dream. She had to admit though, it was a little more believable than the news of Jiraiya's death. Even now though, the thought of the stupid pervert and how much she really cared about him was pushed aside by this more recent news. It wasn't that she prided herself as an instructor to that point, or that she believed her young apprentace was invincible. But of all people...

Naruto had apparently gotten there before her somehow, though it didn't seem by much. Somehow, his messy hair was even messier than usual, and he was wearing nothing more than a thin, loose T-shirt with some kind of swirl symbol on the back, and some loose shorts. She also noted that he was barefoot. These things, combined with his quickly moving chest as he drew in struggled breaths, confirmed that he had arrived only moments ago. Despite these little details having been silently noted in her mind, Tsunade pushed Naruto aside as if he wasn't there at all. He didn't respond much, but just joined her in staring at the form that lay in the hospital bed. Even with the evidence right before their eyes, they still couldn't believe it.

The strange shade of pink fell all around her face in messy strands and across her pillow as Sakura lay, unconscious, in the bed, her faded breaths slightly fogging the mask that covered her mouth and nose.

"H-how..." Was all Tsunade could say, after they had watched the somewhat hypnotic display of Sakura's slow breaths for a few minutes. The Heart Monitor that joined the two blondes at the bedside barely registered the girl's beats. She was alive, it seemed. But just barely. Her youthful face was nearly masked by several bandages on her cheeks and forehead, as well as one that encased her entire neck. Tsunade shuddered to think the extent of the bindings that were necessary to keep this girl's body together under that blanket.

Naruto just shook his head at her whispered question.

"I...I don't know. I was told about it by Ino..." He paused, losing himself in Sakura's closed eyes for a moment, "She just said that she saw them bring Sakura in..." Tsunade looked at Naruto, impatiently waiting for more, "It was hard to tell what she said exactly, since she was crying, but she said there was a lot of blood. And..." He paused yet again, looking down at the metal frame at the foot of the bed

"And what?!" Tsunade growled, anxious to hear what could've possibly beat her beloved apprentice. Even now, Tsunade wasn't sure she herself could've beat Sakura very easily. The girl was very talented and had far superior control over her chakra. Her drive to become stronger was also something Tsunade had never seen before in her life. Naruto just looked up at her, surprised that she was so intently looking at him.

"Oh...nothing. She just said she was really injured somehow. And she kept talking about all the blood. She just kept repeating that most of the time. There's nothing else." Tsunade sighed and looked back at Sakura. She would never in a million years think that anything could happen to Sakura like this. It was just too unbelievable. It was almost...silly.

"Well..." She said finally, "It seems she's in a stable condition." Tsunade reached over and felt the girls face, resting her hand on Sakura's four-finger forehead gently, glancing again at the Heart Monitor. "I'd say she'll wake up in a few days. Perhaps she can tell us what happened exactly then. I'm going to stay here at the hospital to oversee her condition personally. For now, you need to go about your business as usual Naruto." The boy's jaw dropped and he shoved his palms outward expressively, all of which went unnoticed by the woman in the green robe.

"What?! But I wanna make sure she's okay too! I'm not just going to pretend she isn't hurt!" He rebelled. Tsunade shot him a glare that made him freeze stiff.

"She'll be fine. I promise." Tsunade said simply. Shizune stepped forward towards Naruto.

"Naruto, please do as Lady Tsunade says. I'm sure Sakura will be okay." She reached out a gentle hand towards the boy, bidding him forward. A deep frown carved into his face and he stood firm, shaking his head defiantly. Shizune's expression hardened and she forcibly took Naruto's wrist, surprising him with her strength.

"Do not think you are the only one who cares." She warned. Naruto's expression softened into surprise, and he glanced at the Fifth Hokage, realizing what Shizune meant. Finally, the two of them left the room, the chamber becoming silent as the master gazed down at her student, tears in her eyes.

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Two days later an anxious Naruto could be seen barreling down the streets of Konoha, making his way through the maze of buildings toward the hospital. This time he was fully dressed in his orange garb, minus the headband. Tearing around corner after corner, the citizens of Konoha were nothing more than a blur. His only focus was that one particular bed in the depths of the hospital. Finally, the news had come.

Sakura had awakened.

Of course, because of his single-mindedness on his goal, he couldn't have possibly seen what awaited him around a particular corner only blocks from the hospital. This unforeseen thing hit him literally like a brick wall and sent him sprawling onto the ground, dazed. Slowly he began to realize that the thing he had run into had been one of those "blurs" and was actually a blur he knew very well.

"N-Naruto??" Hinata was rubbing her head, supporting her weight on her other hand as she sat in the dirt. The boy blinked once and leapt up. Even now, he hadn't lost focus on his goal, and started forward, grabbing Hinata's uplifted hand.

"C'mon Hinata! Sakura's woken up!" Rather than wait to apologize, or even help her to her feet properly, Naruto decided unconsciously that Hinata must want to see Sakura too, and so dragged the girl to her feet as he continued onward. As the Hyuuga heiress stumbled behind him, she couldn't help but focus on the fact that his hand still clutched hers. She knew it didn't mean anything to him, and shouldn't have meant something to her, but she couldn't help but smile slightly, her head ringing with "Naruto's holding my hand..."

Naruto only released the lavender-eyed girl's hand when they finally burst into the hospital room of Haruno Sakura. This time, Naruto appeared to be the last one there, and everyone else in the room turned to look at the two newcomers, surprised by the noisy entrance.

Gathered in the room were none other thank Kakashi Hatake, Shizune, and of course, Tsunade. Kakashi was leaning casually against the wall next to the window, his book safely tucked away in his bag for once, while Tsunade and Shizune stood next to the side of the bed closest to the door, effectively blocking Naruto's view of his remaining teammate. Both Tsunade and Shizune gave him strange looks, having taken notice of Hinata. Naruto had only just released her hand, and the girl was holding it close to her chest behind him, her face warm.

"Well? Well? What'd I miss? What happened??" Naruto asked frantically, making his way around the end of the bed, past Kakashi. Hinata followed him a bit more cautiously.

"You didn't miss anything. She wouldn't tell us anything." Kakashi replied. Naruto looked into the warm face of Sakura wide-eyed, and she smiled at him faintly.

"Hi Naruto." Her green eyes smiling wider than her mouth was able to at the moment. He grinned back.

"Hi Sakura." He replied cheerfully, then his face dropped. "Wait, she wouldn't tell you? Why?" He asked, turning towards Kakashi. Tsunade opened her mouth to speak, but another voice cut in.

"Because." Sakura started, her head had dropped sadly, "I wanted you to be here for this." She fell silent then, and it wasn't long before Naruto couldn't take it anymore.

"What? What happened, Sakura? Who's the bastard that did this to you?!!" He cried. If her head hadn't been lowered and her pink locks hadn't shrouded her face, Naruto would have seen Sakura's eyes brimming with tears. Finally, she whispered only one name.

"Sasuke."